都市と自然のカムヤシロ 私は都市を聖域に見立てて作品制作しています。それに至った経緯と制作の動機を解説します。 日本の自然豊かな九州で育った私が、東京の幾重にも連なるビル群を初めて見た時、ビル群は故郷の山々の様に巨大で、その中に入れば森林の様に感じられました。 古くから様々な神話が伝わる故郷の自然に畏怖を感じていた私は、東京のビル群からも畏怖を感じました。 何故人工物から畏怖を感じるのか、当時は見当も付きませんでした。 しかし、故郷と東京を往き来する中で、九州には自然が作った美しいものがあるが、東京には人間が作った美しいものがあるという事に気付きました。 その人間が、自然を作り替えて作ったのが都市です。 都市は新しい自然とも考えられますから、あの感情は間違いではなかったと思います。 実際に、都市を構成する建築物は、自然からの産出物で作られており、絶え間なく作り変えられていく景色を眺めていると無機質な四季の様です。 また、東京はどこまで行っても東京が途切れず延々と都会が続き、止まる事無く変化し続ける姿はまるで万華鏡です。 その衝撃と気付きを糧に、この作品を15年以上制作してきました。 この作品は当初、私的な聖域を作る目的で始めた作品です。 初めての都会での生活は、様々な負担が大きく心身共に疲弊した為、自分を保ち癒す目的でそれを必要としました。 そうして都会を撮影し作り続けた作品がシンメトリーであったのは意味の有る事でした。 これは、日本人の自然観と宗教建築に関係があります。 何故なら、古代から日本人は自然の中に神を見出だしてきました。 豊穣な自然からの恩恵は感謝の念を与え、強大な自然災害は恐怖を植え付け、自然全てを畏怖の対象とし、自然崇拝を生み出したからです。 この日本人としての自然観が、姿を変えた自然である都市から畏怖を感じる事につながりました。 また、洋の東西を問わず古くから人間の信仰や祈りが集まる場所にはシンメトリーの建築物がありました。 神社、寺、モスク、教会、ピラミッドに至るまで様々です。 人が敬虔な想いを具現化する際、時と地域を越えてシンメトリーは世界共通です。 そういった、人間が持つ根源的な造形感覚を原動力とし、都市の新しい解釈を提示します。 SANCTUARY | urbanized nature I see cities as religious SANCTUARY in my creations. The following explains all the trails and motives of this series of work. Skyscrapers in Tokyo are mighty and growing with dense. When I first saw those buildings jointed closely together, I felt like as same as walking into the grove of towering trees and mountains in my hometown, Kumamoto, Kyushu. I have always been in awe of nature in Kumamoto with its various myths which have been passed down since ancient times. Likewise, I somehow experience a tremendous sense of awe when I am surrounded by those concrete structures in Tokyo. The reason why I feel in that way toward such artifacts remains as a question. After many times of shuttling between my hometown and Tokyo, I found that while there is natural beauty in Kyushu, Tokyo is full of its own attractiveness and magnificence created by human beings. In fact, a great metropolis is what humans created with nature. As a city is a new figure transformed from nature,it is reasonable to explain what I feel toward a concrete jungle is equivalent to the awe I have of mountains. Materials of buildings are taken from nature. Natural productions are converted and applied to putting up innumerable constructions in Tokyo endlessly. Gazing at the continuously changing urban landscape, I feel like watching inorganic compounds performing the seasons. Moreover, the immense scene of concrete characterizes the skyline. Those giant constructions spring up to cover the city as a kaleidoscope changing consistently. Taking photos of the splendid city is like making myself a sacrosanct space. Living in such a capital city for the first time is a heavy burden which makes me feel exhausted both physically and mentally. In order to escape, or I should say to rescue and heal myself, it is necessary for me to build a sanctuary correspondently. Photoing the city is the way I have been trying for years. Symmetrical compositions play a great role in this series of works. The symmetry here means a kind of aesthetic quality of architecture. Take jinja for instance, TORII (the entrance which symbolizes the transition to the sacred) and SHRINE show symmetry with elaborately designed devices and compositions. Similarly, my works share the idea with religious buildings by creating symmetrical space: turning buildings upside down and flipping landscapes horizontally. The reason why I construct my sense of security by recording those building in Tokyo has something to do with the Japanese view of the universe and primitive religious architectures. Japanese people believe that gods and spirits could be found in nature. The native religion and the former ethnic cult of Japan have a rather deep connection with nature. We, Japanese natives, express gratitude to abundant nature where we benefit from and show fear of violent and uncontrollable natural disasters. Admiration, veneration and trepidation form the basis of nature worship toward myriad gods. As a Japanese who grew up in Kyushu’s environment with the ancient nature worship, I finally understand the sense of fear that I have in the developed city, Tokyo. On the other hand, places of worship are correspondent to religions. Structures and consecrated spaces for religious purposes, such as jinja, temple, mosque, mass, pyramid et cetera, are embodiments of various beliefs. Breaking through limits of time and space, no matter what kind of beliefs do people have, seeking and erecting religious buildings as sacred precincts are in common around the world. Hence, driven by the original ability of modeling and sensations of a human being, I have been creating works for more than fifteen years. I will, with this series of works, continuously give new interpretations of the city by photoing. For Movie For Book Cover 
 |